This invention relates to an attractive and nearly silent method of carrying and continuously displaying selected foods prepared in a food preparation area to the restaurant patron seated at a counter area surrounding the food preparation area.
Early efforts to introduce food conveyance into restaurants were primarily functional in nature, and probably not very attractive. Examples are (1) the Spink automotive restaurant U.S. Pat. No. 1,388,975 (1921) in which trays of food traveled by gravity on an inclined raceway from the kitchen to the patron on an upper deck and dirty dishes traveled on an oppositely inclined raceway back to the kitchen; all in full view of the patron. (2) The Henderson mechanical conveyor U.S. Pat. No. 1,411,432 (1922) in which the dishes traveled on an endless conveyor chain. (3) The Ora serving counter U.S. Pat. No. 2,037,815 (1936) another mechanical conveyor. (4) The Boots serving conveyor U.S. Pat. No. 2,666,519 (1954) still another mechanical conveyor; and (5) The Kroemer food service system, U.S. Pat. No. 3,263,776 (1966) and U.S. Pat. No. 3,378,105, a covered mechanical conveyor and telephone system.
The circulating food tables of Shiraishi, U.S. Pat. No. 3,901,355 (1975) and Yamada, U.S. Pat. No. 4,349,086 (1982) represents a new concept in the restaurant industry. Instead of conveying individual orders of selected foods to and from the food preparation area as previous automatic systems, a variety of foods are displayed on a mechanical conveyor system and the patron simply watches the conveyor until a food that suits his fancy passes in front of him. The dish is lifted from the constantly moving conveyor. Spilled food is generally not a serious problem provided an employee can stop the conveyor quickly. There is no provision for loading the dirty dishes back on the conveyor which is a distinct advantage over most of the prior art devices which subjected the patrons to some unpleasantry in seeing the remains of other patron's dinners.
In any event, in spite of the improvement in the systems, the recent circulating food tablets are still reliant on the standard mechanical conveyor system. While the foods on such mechanical tables may be attractively prepared and the counter and other decorations may be quite pleasant, one cannot escape the feeling of sitting on a factory assembly line or waiting in a crowded airport for his bag to come by on the baggage carrousel.
In at least one installation of a food bar in Japan, the system is similar to the fishing game device taught by Popovich, U.S. Pat. No. 4,165,075 (1979) in which the food dishes are placed on free floating discs which are not connected together. It has been found that after only a short time of operation, the floating discs become damaged by the constant collisions between the discs. Jamming at corners is also a problem.